Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Stitch Blog Tour Stop by Samantha Durante

Welcome to my stop on the Stitch tour by Samantha Durante

Blurb:

Her heart races, her muscles coil, and every impulse in Alessa’s body screams at her to run… but yet she’s powerless to move.

Still struggling to find her footing after the sudden death of her parents, the last thing college freshman Alessa has the strength to deal with is the inexplicable visceral pull drawing her to a handsome ghostly presence. In between grappling with exams and sorority soirees – and disturbing recurring dreams of being captive in a futuristic prison hell – Alessa is determined to unravel the mystery of the apparition who leaves her breathless. But the terrifying secret she uncovers will find her groping desperately through her nightmares for answers.

Because what Alessa hasn’t figured out yet is that she’s not really a student, the object of her obsession is no ghost, and her sneaking suspicions that something sinister is lurking behind the walls of her university’s idyllic campus are only just scratching the surface…

The opening installment in a twist-laden trilogy, Stitch spans the genres of paranormal romance and dystopian sci-fi to explore the challenges of a society in transition, where morality, vision, and pragmatism collide leaving the average citizen to suffer the results.

Guest PostSamantha Durante’s Top 10 Places to Visit

When Heather asked me to write a guest post about the top ten places I’d like to visit, I have to admit I was a little daunted at first. I’ve done a lot of traveling and have already been to many of the places I most want to visit, and on top of that, when it comes down it, I’m really a homebody. I think my favorite place to visit is my kitchen.

So as I thought more and more about where I would most like to go, a lot of places occurred to me – the Greek islands, Lake Como, Paris and the French countryside, the tiger reserves in India, etc. – but the places I MOST wanted to go to were a physical impossibility. Why? Because, sadly, they don’t exist.

The reality is that if I could truly go anywhere, all the places I’d choose are ones from my favorite books, movies, and videogames. Here are my top ten:

10. Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory

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Two words: Chocolate River.

9. Aladdin Sultan’s Palace

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Who doesn’t want to take a magic carpet ride around this place? Also, Jasmine was by far the coolest Disney princess. Why? Because her best friend was a tiger!

8. Ellesméra

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It’s my ultimate fantasy to live in a really elaborate tree house and be able to communicate with my dragon (or cat or dog would work fine too. I don’t need a dragon...). Ellesméra would be a pretty ideal location for that fantasy to come true.

7. The Shire

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This place is the definition of cozy, don’t you think? Granted, it might be a little difficult for me to maneuver given that I’m 5’8” and the average height of a hobbit is 3’6” (thank you all-knowing Wikipedia). But even so, seems like a pleasant place to retire someday.

6. Raccoon City

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Okay, I’ll admit that perhaps it’s weird to want to visit a town that’s infested with hoards of zombies and other nightmarish blood-sucking mutant bioweapons. But don’t you ever have one of those days where nothing would make you feel better than popping the heads off a couple undead? Maybe that’s just me.

5. Jurassic Park

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Assuming everything stayed in its cages… this would be awesome.

4. Naboo’s Lake Country

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Ah, Lake Country, site of the uber-romantic secret wedding between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala – you know, before Anakin went all psycho-child-murderer in Episode 3. All I can say is GORGEOUS. (Incidentally, the scene in the movie was filmed at Lake Como, which is up there on my list of real-life places to visit. Coincidence? I think not.)

3. Narnia

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There’s nothing I love more than talking animals, and Narnia has them in abundance. Aslan, being gigantic and cute, also reminds me of my dog (who sadly has passed). I just wanna bury my hands in his soft fluffy mane and cuddle up for a nap! Don’t you?

2. Hyrule

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I’ve spent more time wandering around this world than I have my own hometown, and I know it like the back of my hand. First thing I’d do is break Epona out of Lon Lon Ranch, then we’d take off across Hyrule field, go frolicking in Kokiri Forest, do some shopping in Hyrule Castle Town and Kakariko Village, take a splash at Lake Hylia, and finally end our day at the spa at Zora’s Domain. (What, haven’t you heard the music in Zora’s Domain? Don’t even try to convince me there’s not a spa hidden somewhere in that cavern!)

Samantha Durante lives in New York City with her fiancé, Sudeep, and her cat, Gio. Formerly an engineer at Microsoft, Samantha left the world of software in 2010 to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and a lifelong love of writing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, Samantha is currently working full time for her company Medley Media Associates as a freelance business writer and communications consultant. Stitch is her first novel. Learn more about Samantha at www.samanthadurante.com.